


Chocolate Frosting and Pink Cake

by Hawkflight



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bullying, Empathy, F/M, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-25 20:05:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6208297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkflight/pseuds/Hawkflight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Made just for you. A little batch of flour, but lots of cocoa too. Soul Mate AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am continuing my tradition of weird pairings here. Now let's just hop right into it (all puns are intentional).

It's the start of another school year at Beacon.

Velvet watches as the new students begin to disperse after Ozpin's speech. It's exciting to see others wishing to become hunters and huntresses as well, but she's even more excited at the prospect that one of them may say those words to her. This is the place she is most likely to hear them. Her mother had said the words to her father at school, the same as most Faunus that weren't still looking, or had simply given up on their chance.

Though, it didn't look like there were many Faunus with this new batch of students. Likely the work of the White Fang, the terrorist organization was becoming even more aggressive lately. Even if the school was still accepting Faunus some of the applicants probably got run off by human protesters.

Not on school property of course, Ozpin wouldn't allow that. She can only hope none of her fellow Faunus were beaten so they wouldn't attend the school. There were even more stories like that cropping up as White Fang activity continued to grow.

Why couldn't those humans respond with more reasonable methods than violence? It was things like that that had started the White Fang in the first place.

Velvet sighed as she walked down a hallway. These weren't the sort of thoughts she wanted to be having right now. She would much rather welcome other Faunus into the school, make their first day be a good one. Maybe this year she would meet her soul mate.

It would make each new conversation she had that much more exciting. Those first few words could be the ones she had waited to hear since turning twelve. Since the mark containing her soul mate's words first appeared on her arm: wrapped around her right elbow, or rather just above it. The pink words were bright against her skin, not that she displayed her soul mark. She knew the humans would, but... well, it might as well be one of those many cultural differences between them.

Besides, she should hurry down the stairs just ahead if she wanted to find a fellow Faunus to greet. Who she hoped would be just as excited as her to find their soul mate.

"Hey, bunny girl."

Velvet stopped in her tracks at hearing a voice, though she regretted it when she turned to see three human males walking down the hall behind her. A fellow Faunus wouldn't have called her that. So she shouldn't have stopped.

As Velvet turned back around - fully intending to make a run for the stairs - another boy came around the corner ahead of her, with a grin that clearly said they were the leader of the group behind her. So, some of the new students were already trying to group up into four person teams. She would have appreciated the effort to stay together with friends if they didn't seem to be so intent on keeping her from the stairs.

"It appears you're in between a rock and a hard place," the leader said, grin still in place.

She takes a step back as her heart launches into her throat. _Oh, please no._ When had she entered a nightmare? This... well, bully to put it bluntly couldn't be her soul mate. Human or not she didn't believe for a second that this was just a bad time to meet. Or she hoped it wasn't.

"Me and my buddies were wondering if those ears of your's are real. Or if you're just some sort of Faunus rights supporter."

She tried to come up with something to say, she did, but her tongue was twisted. And in the next second all she could manage was a, "Ow!"

A hand had just clamped around her ear and gave a tug, sending her stumbling back towards the other three in the process. She was sure the one that had grabbed her was the first to laugh, followed by the leader and the rest of the 'team.' "So they are real. Who would have guessed?"

"Please, let go," Velvet said as she angled her head in such a way so that she may be able to slip out of the boy's grip. If his grip on her ear would just loosen for a second...


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you think you got it all figured out now?

He was going to be late. That was the thought repeating through his mind as Jaune ran down the hallway. Not as late as his first day, but even _later_ , and this wasn't even his first class. So he couldn't use the excuse that he had woken up late, if the teacher even asked. It was highly likely he would just get a look that interrupted the class session that stated clearly with their eyes that he was late; oh, and stay after class for a little bit so we can talk about it. As if that was going to stop it from happening again.

Not that he was doing this on purpose! Really, he wasn't. He had just been thinking of ways to get Weiss to notice him, whether she was his soul mate or not he thought she was beautiful. A angel descended from the very sky, made from freezing ice that was sharp to the touch.

She really wasn't the most approachable person he had ever met.

Jaune finally made it to the door to his current class and skidded to a stop outside, opening it as slowly as he could so it wouldn't make too much noise. The moment he took a tip-toe step into the classroom however-

"How nice of you to join us, Jaune." Clearly the teacher had noticed him even with his efforts. "Please take a seat so we can continue," the teacher told him, pointing to his chair with a manicured nail.

"Sorry," he muttered, closing the door behind him before heading toward his seat, trying to ignore the laughter coming from team Cardinal. "What's going on?" he whispered to Pyrrha as the board was blank, giving him no indication of what they were suppose to be doing - more like just him.

"We're going over soul mates today," Pyrrha told him, offering up a smile. Huh. So it wouldn't have really mattered if he was late or not, then? His parents had already told him about it when he turned thirteen.

"Now as I was saying." The teacher looked pointedly to those still laughing and the sound soon subsided. "Most of you probably already have your soul marks, but a few are probably still waiting for it to happen. If that's the case you have nothing to worry about as soul marks appear between the ages of twelve and fifteen, giving a total of three years for it to appear."

Oh, well maybe he should have been earlier then. Him and all seven of his sisters had gotten their soul marks when they were thirteen, so he had assumed that's when everyone else got theirs as well.

He could see Cardin look at him from the corner of his eye, mouthing the words, 'late bloomer' as if there was such a thing. When it was just in-explicitly stated that if you didn't get your soul mark before turning sixteen that you're soul mate was dead. Jaune scowled back at Cardin, not wanting to draw the teacher's attention to him again after getting to class late, even if the other new student continued to annoy him. It appeared to be Cardin's life goal.

Even as his blood warmed though at Cardin so casually making a jab like that he could feel himself calming from the ever present soft waves in the back of his mind. Like an ocean, except this one was almost always calm and even now it helped to soothe him. So he was looking at the front of the room before the teacher noticed he wasn't paying as much attention as he should.

"For those that don't already have one, this class session is made to benefit you specifically, but I expect everyone to be here mentally. You might actually learn a thing or two about yourself or your soul mate if you're paying attention." The teacher did a quick survey of the class, upon finding that everyone was focused on her, she continued, "We'll start with human soul marks first then move to the faunus. Does anyone have any objections?" As far as Jaune could tell no hands were raised. Besides, this made sense. There was more humans in the classroom than faunus. Between his team and Ruby's they didn't have a single faunus member. But that's just how things were in most places.

"Then I'll officially start this class session." The teacher went over to the board to write down in bold white chalk, _Human Soul Marks,_ before turning to face the class. "Can anyone tell me the first thing you noticed when you got your mark? I am not asking you to reveal what it looks like."

Yang was the first to raise her hand. "Well, that's easy. The bond of course."

"Would you care to elaborate?" the teacher asked, chalk wielding hand poised over the blackboard.

"The empathetic bond all humans share with their soul mate. It's hard to miss when you suddenly begin to feel someone else's emotions in your own mind."

"Correct." The teacher drew a bullet mark, with the words, _Empathy Bond_ following it. "Your empathy bond allows you to feel your soul mate's emotions the moment you get your soul mark. And as Yang just pointed out, it is the first thing most people notice because it feels so alien at first. I'm sure most of you already go through quite a roller-coaster of emotions on a daily basis, so feeling another person going through the same thing can be weird, even distracting. Especially if your soul mate's emotions get 'loud' when they are particularly upset, excited, scared, or are experiencing any other range of emotions that would cause this effect.

"The one other way they get 'louder' more naturally is when the distance between soul mates is shortened drastically. Like if they were across the continent, but then met in the middle. It wouldn't be as substantial as when they are being emotional, but you will feel a difference. When you're closer those emotions will come through more clearly. Of course, this also means their emotions can get louder when they 'spike up' as well. This is part of what people use when searching for their soul mate, to judge how far away their mate is. I'm sure a few of you noticed this effect upon coming to this school. It is most common to meet your soul mate in a school or business setting."

It had actually taken awhile for Jaune to notice this effect, mainly because his soul mate's emotions didn't ever get particularly 'loud' as the teacher had described it. He had hardly ever felt a storm approaching from within his own mind. For the most part when he felt his soul mates emotions the only way he could describe them was as 'ripples' like those on the surface of water.

Of course, this could have just been from distance as the teacher had said, or simply because his soul mate had more control over their emotions than him. Or that's just how they were, he wouldn't really know until he found them. Still, he could feel that calm presence more clearly in his mind since coming to this school, so there was a good chance his soul mate was here with him.

"Just because you see someone supposedly going though the same emotions you're feeling doesn't mean they are your soul mate however. Not everyone wears their heart on their sleeve, as most of you probably already know from all the different characters you have come across in your life. Some people are very good at hiding their emotions, and this is why..." The teacher trailed off, clearly looking for a volunteer in the classroom.

"We have soul marks," a student replied.

The teacher gave a nod of her head as she wrote the new bullet point on the board, _Soul Mark_. "Yes. Humans have soul marks to confirm who their soul mate is. If you have a soul mark of your own you already know that your mark depicts one half of an image. Your soul mate would have the other half that goes with it. It is for this reason that some people do not cover their soul marks, as a way to find their soul mate faster by having their own soul mark view-able at all times. So you could tell at a glance if someone like that is your soul mate or not since you would know what your own soul mark looks like. Each soul mark is unique, a pair creating a different image, so when confirming that someone is your soul mate there is no mistake.

"Not everyone keeps their mark view-able though, simply because they cannot. It is easiest for people with a soul mark on their wrist or somewhere else not usually covered by clothes to do this. And there are people that choose to hide their own soul mark as it is a part of them they consider to be private. Part of which could be because the soul mark is not on a conventional place-"

"Ass cheek!" someone shouted, earning a glare from the teacher and causing laughter to quickly spread throughout the classroom.

"Detention," she snapped as Jaune held back his own laughter at the sudden outburst. It took a few seconds for the teacher to get everyone to focus again."I will call on you if I want your input, got it?" The general question given to the class was accepted with a few nodding heads, as half the class was still giggling.

"Moving on. I will now be going over faunus soul marks," as she said this the teacher wrote the words on the board, _Faunus Soul Marks_ , starting a new bullet point beneath it. "Does anyone wish to tell the class the first thing to know about faunus soul marks?"

"They have soul words," Blake replied. "Instead of an empathy bond."

The teacher gave a nod as she wrote the words next to the bullet point, _Soul Words_. "The first difference between a human soul mark and a faunus one is that the faunus do not establish an empathy bond when they get their soul mark. In fact, their soul mark consists of their soul words, usually the same color as their soul mate's hair and in their own handwriting or their soul mate's. It varies a little, but much like a human soul mark can be used to confirm one's soul mate.

"These soul words are the first words they hear from their soul mate after getting the soul mark. Therefore, if their soul mate is someone they knew from before they got their soul mark there's no need to remember everyone's first words to them in an attempt to find their soul mate. Soul words, though, are not always unique. It is a common misconception to think that faunus have an easier time finding their soul mates because of their soul words. As some of the most common first words most people say to another are simple hellos or another greeting. This makes it more difficult for a faunus to find their soul mate if their soul words are common. But just like humans their soul mark is meant to help confirm their soul mate." With this statement the teacher wrote down, _Soul Mark_ beneath soul words on the board.

Right in time for the bell to ring. Jaune leaped up from his seat, not wanting to be late to his next class. The teacher was focused on the student that had interrupted class, so he was able to slip out without being reprimanded for being late.

Once he was in the hallway he could see other students spilling into the hallway from their own classes. He found his gaze going in the direction of Cardin who had stopped to speak next to Jaune, but in a rare instance wasn't directing his words at him, but rather at a faunus with large rabbit ears. "A rabbit probably has the most common soul words, don't you think? Say Jaune, if you don't find your soul mate you can just get some animal ears from the costume store and pretend you're a faunus. All you need to do is go up and say hi to that faunus. You know what they say about rabbits."

He would feel insulted, if he didn't feel so disgusted at the suggestion behind Cardin's words. Blake beat him to the punchline, though. " _Ugh_. Can't you find better things to do with your time than come up with such petty insults?"

The rabbit faunus Cardin had directed his words to was now scampering off through the crowds, clutching her school bag; Cardin followed after her rather than responding to Blake, probably to pester the poor faunus further.

'That wasn't very nice." Jaune could hear Pyrrha speak up from behind him as Cardin's team ran to catch up with their bully of a leader. "I hope they don't really plan to bother that faunus further. It's wrong to poke fun at someone's appearance."

"He was insulting every faunus in the vicinity by saying something like that," Blake muttered, glaring after team Cardinal. She looked like she was seriously considering going after them to exact justice for the faunus.

Jaune certainly wouldn't blame her if she did, and from the ripple of pity in the back of his mind he wasn't the only one.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to suggest some future pairings for this new multi-chap.


End file.
